Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Starting to Pack

Yesterday I started packing up the car. Although I'm not leaving for about 3 weeks, I wanted to make sure I have all I need now, so there's time to deliver more, if necessary. Plus, I'm so ready to get going and packing helps to satisfy that urge a bit. Here are before and after pictures of the hatch area ... everything now tied down for travel.

Now I need to do a bit of sewing -- curtains, screens, mattress pads.

It was a nice day with the flowering cherry tree "snowing" blossoms while packing the car. It was a bit frustrating to keep picking petals out of the car ... but, too beautiful to feel the frustration for long. Here are some pictures I took a couple of days ago.

10 comments:

What do you do with all the stuff on top of the sleeping area at night when you want to sleep. I'm trying to convert my 97 Toyota Carrolla. Seems tight but I don't want to tent camp. I would like to do a cross country in my little car.

Even tho' the picture shows things on top of my bed, I ended up not traveling that way. I put the blue bag with reflectix (window insulation) on the floor below the head of the bed, and the black bag with curtains on the passenger seat beside the bed while driving. If I wasn't using the curtains while sleeping, I put the curtain bag on top of the stuff on the passenger seat in front of the bed. Both bags squish down fairly flat. I kept stuff off the bed all of the time. I put my gear on the floor, on the unused seats, or under the hatch (beside the bed).

Using soft-sided bags instead of hard-sided plastic totes is a big space saver.

After I finish posting about my travels, I will do a debrief with pictures showing how I actually used my car and gear. Hopefully that will help you as you plan for your cross-country adventure.

hello again! In 3 minutes I'm starting my shakedown camping trip (just the weekend) in my Prius v. It's so much smaller than my Sienna van, but I wanted a car that would last 15 years and save money on gas, and especially like the power system since with easy heating and cooling it will extend my camping season. Thanks for all your inspiration. Sorry about the run-on sentence, but I'm excited. Can you tell?!

Thanks Suanne for this blog. I will be a loyal follower now. Do you or anyone else have some ideas on another car to travel in besides a Prius? I am in the market to buy something but would like something similar, but perhaps a little more roomy. I like the Dodge Caravans but they are pricey. Also looking for something with better gas mileage :) Anyone else traveling in a car instead of a van? What are you using and how do you like it?

Thanks much for following TS. I know of folks successfully living out of a Vibe and Corolla, but I don't know if they have more room than my Prius hatchback or not. You may want to look into a Prius V, it's more like a station wagon. The best to you in your search for the best vehicle for you.

My husband and I just started using our (new to us) Sienna mini van as a mini camper. We had a truck camper and a T@B in the past but neither was just right. the Sienna camper is perfect! We use refletix on the inside of the windows -- just cut to size and it just pushes into place with nothing additional necessary to hold it. I will cover it with black fabric (stuck on with spray adhesive) but for now, it works just fine without the black fabric. We don't do 'stealth" camping, so it's fine, but if we were, the black would be less noticeable. Love your blogsite and I'll be looking for you when we come out west.

Meant to say... on our last trip, fully loaded [which isn't much extra weight -- clothes, an air mattress, topper, blankets, pillows, and two coolers with refletix insulation (really helps!)] we consistantly got 27 mpg. oh, and the refletix window covers, of course. We roll the bed up during the day and use a 12 volt air pump to blow up the mattress at night. We removed the middle seats and the rear seat folds into the floor at night. During the day, the seat is up and everything is in the floor well. We might remove that last seat someday, but for now, we like having the option of sitting in the back in case of inclement weather. The Toyota mini van is the only one we knew of with AWD.

Vicky, I'm glad you are finding the Sienna to your like. I also think it's a great choice. And, good MPG for a mini van. I sure hope Toyota comes out with a hybrid minivan one day. The AWD is a great option too. Safe travels.

Welcome

I travel full time in my Toyota Prius. I started as a part-timer from 09-'16. I call it my "Prius RV" because it's fully self contained. After some early tests, I became totally hooked on being in nature, shunpiking (taking back roads), and exploring local histories, cultures & geology.

-Oct '09: Test trip, Yosemite NP,

-Apr-Sept '10: US National Parks,

-Summer '11: US West Coast,

-Winter '12: US Gulf Coast,

-Summer '13: Short trips with hubby,

-Winter '14: Family & friends, CA-FL,

-Feb-May '15: Snowbird, AZ-UT,

-Fall '15: Family & friends, CA-AZ,

-Winter '16: Friends camping in SW,

-Winter '17: US Southwest

I hope you enjoy these posts of my travels. If you'd like details about how I live out of my Prius, see the links directly below.